A Landauer bound on black hole information processing: <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" altimg="si1.svg"> <mml:mrow> <mml:msub> <mml:mi>N</mml:mi> <mml:mi>max</mml:mi> </mml:msub> <mml:mo linebreak="goodbreak">=</mml:mo> <mml:
The maximum number of irreversible bit operations a Schwarzschild black hole can support is computed from Landauer’s principle applied at the asymptotic Hawking temperature, the frame in which the ADM mass-energy and the thermal radiation spectrum are both defined. The result is exact: N max = 2 N BH , where N BH is the Bekenstein–Hawking entropy measured in bits. The factor of two follows algebraically from the Smarr formula M c 2 = 2 T H S BH and requires no assumptions beyond semiclassical black hole thermodynamics and Landauer’s principle. This identity admits a natural interpretation through the chiral structure of the two-dimensional horizon: a compact surface supports independent left-moving and right-moving excitations, doubling the processing capacity relative to single-sector storage. For Kerr black holes, the Kerr/CFT correspondence maps the rotational work term in the Smarr formula entirely to the right-moving chiral sector, yielding an asymmetric decomposition N max = 2 N L + 2 N R M 2 / ( M 2 − a 2 ) in which the left-moving processing capacity is independent of spin. The processing-to-storage ratio exceeding unity has a direct bearing on the information paradox: it ensures sufficient throughput for complete information processing during Hawking evaporation.
Authors
- Kurtis Kemple
Institutions
- The Open University (GB)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Physics Letters B
- Published
- 2026-04-27
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physletb.2026.140493
- Primary Topic
- Black Holes and Theoretical Physics
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00